ShaneSmith

Founder / Executive Chairman

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Faced with complaints of pervasive bro culture at Vice and a reported $100 million revenue shortfall in 2017, Smith stepped down in March from his post as CEO in March and handed the reins over to Nancy Dubuc, who until that point had been former CEO of A&E Networks, boasting in typical outlaw style that they would be a modern-day Bonnie and Clyde as they took everyone’s money. While Dubuc handles the big corporate picture, onetime punk rocker Smith, now named executive chairman, laser-focuses on content development and strategic dealmaking — not a small task given that the millennial-focused company encompasses a network of digital outlets, a TV studio, feature film and books divisions, an in-house creative services agency and the cable channel Viceland.

News from Variety

This column is part of Variety's Broken Hollywood feature. For more execs and their opinions on the state of Hollywood, click here.I think the biggest issue for legacy media — both TV and film — is that it just costs too much money to develop a TV series or movie. And most of them don’t work. Then the one that works has to pay for the rest.If you look at film, distribution is pre-bought. If you’ve paid for the distribution, you...